Hejira – Celebrating Joni Mitchell, Music Spoken Here, The Marr’s Bar, Worcester, 27/06/2024

Hattie Whitehead – vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, Pete Oxley – electric guitar, Dave Jones – fretted and fretless electric basses, Chris Eldred – keyboards, Ollie Weston – tenor & soprano saxophones, bass clarinet, Rick Finlay – drums, Adam Osmianski – percussion

This keenly anticipated performance attracted the largest crowd to date for a Music Spoken Here event. Promoter Dave Fuller was delighted to see a crowd of around a hundred squeezing into The Marr’s Bar to see Hejira, a band dedicated to celebrating the music of what was arguably Joni Mitchel’s most creative period.

The mid to late 1970s saw the release of such albums and “Court and Spark” (1974), The Hissing of Summer Lawns” (1975) and “Hejira” (1976), the recording that gives tonight’s band its name.

Mitchell’s 1979 album “Mingus” saw her exploring her jazz leanings as she paid homage to the great jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus, who had passed away earlier that year, adding her own lyrics to some of Mingus’ classic compositions, among them the much covered “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”.

Mitchell put together a stellar band of jazz musicians to tour her music,  resulting in the live double album “Shadows and Light”, recorded at the Santa Barbara County Bowl in September 1979 and released in 1980. The band featured Mitchell alongside guitarist and musical director Pat Metheny plus Lyle Mays (keyboards), Michael Brecker (saxes), Jaco Pastorius (electric bass) and Don Alias (drums, percussion). What an incredible line up – and it’s a sobering thought when you consider that of that all star band Joni and Pat are the only ones that are still with us, and that the others were all taken far too soon.

Hejira, the band, was founded by guitarist Pete Oxley, a highly regarded jazz musician with many years of experience and with an impressive catalogue of original recordings already under his belt. He has also run The Spin Jazz Club in Oxford for the past twenty five years, an achievement that was recently the subject of a Jazzmann feature written by my fellow contributor Colin May.
https://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/twenty-five-years-of-jazz-at-the-spin-jazz-club-oxford

It was when he was studying on the Jazz Course at Leeds College of Music that Oxley first heard the “Hejira” album and became a fan of Mitchell’s music. But as a jazz musician it was the “Shadows and Light” live recording that the had the most profound effect on him as it introduced him to the playing of Metheny, Mays, Brecker, Alias and Pastorius.

Oxley’s Mitchell tribute was originally conceived as a one off, a Christmas special at The Spin at the end of 2022 and a celebration of Mitchell’s 80th birthday, which was coming up in 2023. The line up featured some of the leading jazz musicians in the Thames Valley region and it was decided that for jazz musicians the obvious recording to homage would be “Shadows and Light”.

The seven piece band that came to be known as Hejira is fronted by vocalist and guitarist Hattie Whitehead, daughter of the jazz saxophonist Tim Whitehead, with whom Oxley had previously worked. But it was Hattie’s online performance of a Mitchell song with bassist Flo Moore that convinced Oxley that she was the singer he had been looking for.

That first Hejira performance was a total sell out with tickets being snapped up at an unprecedentedly fast rate for The Spin. The gig itself was a triumph and a second gig at the same venue in March 2023 sold out just as quickly. Other venues became interested in the band and they played for another full house at Peggy’s Skylight in Nottingham just a couple of days later.

Oxley began to think that this might be a project with ‘legs’, particularly when Hejira attracted the interest of a booking agent, again also almost unprecedented for British jazz musicians. It’s all become a bit of a roller coaster with Hejira touring extensively, recording a live album at The Cockpit Theatre in Marylebone, London, their own “Shadows and Light” if you will, and selling out the Jazz Cafe in Camden. It has to be said that it represented quite a coup for Dave Fuller to bring them to Worcester and I’m pleased that he was rewarded with his biggest audience thus far, the atmosphere at The Marr’s Bar really was electric.

As a long time admirer of Pete Oxley’s playing in groups such as the New Noakes Quartet, Time Is Of The Essence and his duo / quartet with fellow guitarist Nicolas Meier I was particularly looking forward to this gig. I’m also a big fan of the “Shadows and Light” album and of the individual works of the musicians who appear on it, and particularly Pat Metheny.

My appetite had been further whetted by the review written by Colin May, who had been in attendance for that March 2023 gig at The Spin. His review of that occasion can be found here;
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/hejira-feauring-hattie-whitehead-celebrate-joni-mitchell-the-spin-jazz-club-the-tap-social-botley-oxford-01-03-2023

Hejira’s early performances saw the band members replicating the parts played by those famous musicians on the “Shadows and Light” recording. However now the group has become an ongoing concern Oxley has written his own, arrangements allowing the band to put more of their own stamp on the material, whilst remaining true to the spirit of the original performances.

As Oxley explained to Dave Fuller in his recent “Piece Talk” interview for the Music Spoken Here website and Facebook page he has left the melodies and vocal lines intact but added even greater colour to the orchestration,  most noticeably through Weston’s use of bass clarinet and Osmianski’s use of percussion. Don Alias doubled on drum kit and percussion on the original recording but Hejira deploys a kit drummer AND a percussionist adding greatly to both the rhythmic and textural possibilities in this area.

The evening commenced with “Coyote”, a quintet performance featuring Whitehead, Oxley, Jones, Finlay and Osmianski. Immediately one was struck by the purity of Whitehead’s voice and just how similar her phrasing was to Mitchell’s – “she sounds just like her” must be an observation that’s made on multiple occasions at every Hejira gig. It’s the same with the instrumentalists, Oxley’s guitar solo was ‘Metheny-esque’, while the sound of Jones’ fretless electric bass channelled the spirit of Jaco.

These days Hejira don’t just limit themselves to the “Shadows and Light” repertoire. The group expanded to the full septet for a performance of “Just Like This Train”, a song from the “Court and Spark” album, with the sound of Weston’s bass clarinet a particularly distinctive element in the arrangement.

The band reached back to an earlier Mitchell era for a slowed down arrangement of “Woodstock”, which originally appeared on Mitchell’s 1970 album “Ladies of The Canyon”. Bass clarinet was again a prominent component, particularly on a duo intro featuring just Weston and Whitehead, who was singing and playing electric guitar. Gradually keys, fretless bass, drums and percussion were added. Oxley’s guitar solo was underpinned by organ like sounds from Eldred’s keyboards.

There was a change of pace with a rumbustious version of “In France They Kiss On Main Street” with its “Rollin’ rollin’, rock’n’rollin’” refrain and Oxley’s soaring, Metheny-esque guitar solo.

From the “Hejira” album “Blue Motel Room” was ushered in by another duet, this time featuring Oxley’s guitar and Whitehead’s voice, the latter concentrating on singing only. This was a song that had something of the feel of a jazz standard, with an arrangement featuring the sounds of ‘acoustic’ piano, fretless bass and brushed drums, with Eldred on piano the featured instrumental soloist.

The impressive Whitehead had hitherto been the focus of attention but she now left the stage as the instrumentalists, or at least most of them,  got the opportunity to demonstrate their chops. The chosen piece still retained links with “Shadows and Light” as the band performed a brilliant rendition of the Pat Metheny / Lyle Mays composition “Phase Dance” in an arrangement inspired by the live version on the “Travels” album. With Weston sitting out this was a vehicle for Oxley and Eldred who both delivered brilliant solos on guitar and piano respectively, powered along by Jones, Finlay and Osmianski. This was a terrific version of a much loved tune that really rocked. For me it was a real bonus to hear it, I’ve loved “Phase Dance” since its first appearance on the ECM album “Pat Metheny Group” from 1978, for jazz and fusion fans the alternative “White Album”.

Whitehead returned for “Song for Sharon”, sourced from the “Hejira” album and introduced by Osmianski and Oxley. This featured Whitehead’s singing at its most Mitchell like and saw Weston moving between bass clarinet and soprano saxophone and soloing on the latter, following a shorter excursion for Jones on fretless bass.

Announcing duties were shared between Whitehead and Oxley and as the latter introduced the final item of the first set he praised Whitehead for her feat of memorising all the lyrics of Mitchell’s wordy and often complex songs. The band then took us into the interval with a rousing version of “Free Man in Paris”, which appears on both “Court and Spark” and “Shadows and Light”. In addition to Whitehead’s vocals the highlights included Weston’s powerful tenor sax solo and Finlay’s dynamic performance at the drum kit. A great way to end a brilliantly performed first half.

Set two began in unusual fashion with Osmianski’s unaccompanied introduction on the pandeiro, a tambourine like instrument from Brazil. The percussionist had studied in Brazil and clearly harbours a great affection for the music of that country. The sound of the instrument was enhanced by an echo effect and eventually Osmianski established a groove that took us into the song “Help Me”, another track from “Court and Spark”. Weston was again featured on tenor sax with Oxley also soloing on electric guitar.

A segue of pieces from “Shadows and Light” followed, “Amelia”, the Metheny composed instrumental piece credited on the record as “Pat’s Solo”, and the title track from “Hejira”, also the original home of “Amelia”.
“Amelia”, one of Mitchell’s most beautiful and best loved songs, was flawlessly sung by Whitehead in an extended duo passage that also featured the gently intertwining guitar lines of her Fender Telecaster and Oxley’s Gibson. Piano and bass clarinet were subsequently added to the arrangement.
Oxley’s solo led into his interpretation of Metheny’s instrumental episode, with Eldred’s organ and synth passage then providing the link into “Hejira”, with Whitehead doubling on vocals and acoustic guitar.  The sound of electric bass was prominent with the percussion of Osmianski and Finlay also providing additional colour. Weston’s soprano solo at the close evoked memories of Wayne Shorter, who appeared alongside Pastorius and Alias on Mitchell’s 1977 double album “Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter”.

Following this lengthy segue this set’s main instrumental feature was the Oxley original “The Surging Waves”, an apt title for a dynamic and fast moving piece that included a vigorous drum and percussion workout between Finlay and Osmianski in addition to expansive solos from Weston on tenor sax and the composer on guitar.

Jones’ extended, Jaco-esque fretless bass introduction to “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” was underscored by the sounds of electric piano, conga drums and Finlay’s cymbals with Whitehead returning to deliver Mitchell’s evocative ‘vocalese’ lyrics as she demonstrated her abilities as a straight ahead jazz singer. Mingus’ tune was a dedication to the memory of the great saxophonist Lester Young and the spirit of Lester was channelled by Weston during the course of his tenor sax solo.

The second set concluded with a hard driving rendition of “Black Crow”, another song to appear on both “Hejira” and “Shadows and Light”. Performed by the full septet this was another song to feature Weston as a tenor sax soloist.

The audience at The Marr’s Bar, a number of whom had travelled considerable distances to see the band, gave Hejira a terrific reception. The atmosphere at the venue had truly been electric and the musicians had responded positively to the warmth of the crowd support. The joy that they took in their playing can clearly be seen in the accompanying image, captured by Carlwhotakesphotos.

The inevitable encore was one of Mitchell’s most popular and enduring songs, “A Case of You” from the much celebrated album “Blue”. Oxley’s unaccompanied guitar intro was followed by a peerless Whitehead vocal, supported by electric bass, brushed drums and percussion as Weston and Eldred sat out. Jones was the featured instrumental soloist, this time playing five string fretted bass.

This may have been a ‘tribute band’ but it must rank as the classiest act of its kind that I have seen since I saw Jimmy Cobb’s So What Band perform the music of Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue” at Hay Festival back in 2009.

Superbly led by Oxley the Hejira band was a well drilled unit full of brilliant individuals coming together to deliver a music that was bigger than themselves. Inevitably the main focus was on Oxley and the excellent Hattie Whitehead, but everybody performed well, serving the music faithfully but also making the most of their individual features.

I’ve been familiar with Oxley’s playing for a long time and his fluent, Metheny-esque guitar was at the heart of the proceedings. Meanwhile Whitehead was revelation - what a voice!. She also proved to be an able guitar player on both acoustic and electric. Oxley stuck to his trusty Gibson throughout but Whitehead played a selection of four or five different guitars, although some of them might actually have belonged to Oxley.

In addition to her work with Hejira Whitehead also has a parallel career as a singer-songwriter and as fate would have it I will have the opportunity of checking out this aspect of her talent when she appears at the Regal in nearby Tenbury Wells next week (July 5th 2024) as the support act to former Wonder Stuff frontman Miles Hunt, who will be performing a solo show at the venue. I’m really looking forward to that.

But back to tonight’s gig, which was a triumph for Whitehead and Oxley and all the members of Hejira, plus promoter Dave Fuller who brought the band to The Marr’s Bar and was rewarded with his largest audience to date. A mention too for soundman Willis who achieved an excellent sound mix, no mean feat with a seven piece band featuring both acoustic and electric instruments. I could hear every word of the lyrics thanks to the combination of his engineering skills and Whitehead’s exquisite voice.

Following tonight’s bumper attendance it is to be hoped that many of tonight’s first timers will be tempted back to future Music Spoken Here events. For me there’s a slight element of sadness that that this record crowd was here for a ‘tribute act’ rather than a band playing original music, but maybe this is the way to introduce new listeners to the series in the hope that they’ll return in the future. In terms of attendances MSH needs more nights like this.

My thanks to Pete and Hattie for speaking with me at the interval and after the show. And Hattie, see you next week!